So frustrated.. flights just so expensive!

[TruckerDave]

I love these weekly threads, they make me laugh. :p

[waterbug123]

We are flexible and would consider orlando or Miami if it would be financially worthwhile.

 

If you're flexible then a couple of other things to consider:

If you're willing to fly out of Miami, then consider Ft. Lauderdale as well. Or Naples, or Jacksonville...lots of options within a similar driving distance. You likely need to be willing to add a connection but since you plan to arrive a day early that shouldn't matter. Also, consider flying INTO other cities besides AMS, and then taking a train to AMS. Train travel is extremely common in Europe, so check prices flying into Paris, Brussels, or Frankfurt for instance, and then taking a train from there.

[mjmagee]

Thank you everyone for your great advice. I am looking at all options and I will let you know what I come up with. Marilyn

[[g]cruiserke]

Wow, I've been reading this thread because I just purchased airfare for our Norwegian Escape cruise in May 2016 (with 5 days in Vegas tacked on) and I wanted to see if I got a good deal.

 

You guys travelling from the US to Europe are getting awfully gouged on airfare! I booked our flights from Brussels to Miami (with a stop in LHR) on BA and back from Las Vegas to Brussels (again via LHR on BA) and we got the entire itinerary BRU-MIA / LAS-BRU at $540 per person, with excellent scheduling to boot (arriving in Miami at 2h50 pm and leaving from Vegas at 5h15 pm).

 

So I checked if this price was a fluke and, though it seems to be a good deal for this particular itinerary, it's not out of the ordinary for a TA flight to the USA: looking for flights from Brussels to the New York area in May, I see flights starting at $475 direct, and lots of choices around $500, both direct flights and one-stops.

 

When I reverse the search to flights from New York to Brussels, for the exact same dates, prices about double, to an average of $850 for one-stops (still cheap though, judging by comments in this thread) and about $1,100 for direct flights. That's crazy, that the exact same pair of flights would be so much more expensive depending on which order you take them in.

 

FYI I use a Belgium-based travel agent (not a purely Online Travel Agent, but one with bricks-and-mortar agencies, and a website). To sweeten the deal I got even more, the agency is on my AMEX Rewards partner list, so I got the price down another $150 per person using AMEX reward points, so I'm out of pocket $390 each. I think I can live with that :-)

 

Sorry - didn't mean to gloat... Though, if anybody is thinking of doing a couple of trans-Atlantic cruises, knowing this may help decide which order to take them in.

Edited October 12, 2015 by [g]cruiserke

[iancal]

Absolutely.

 

We have saved a great deal of money over the years by selectively booking certain air, hotels, and even cruises in countries outside of North America.

 

We routinely check a number of EU travel sites prior to making any bookings. You just never know. It does help to have an accommodation address sometimes-especially for some of the UK sites that never seem satisfied until you enter an EU postal code on the address line. The origin of the bank credit card does not appear to be picked up. We find ourselves booking multiple one way flights more often than not when we are flying to Europe.

Edited October 12, 2015 by iancal

[Hawaiidan]

We are flexible and would consider orlando or Miami if it would be financially worthwhile. We expect to depart June29th to get to Ams the day before the cruise which leaves on the first of July. Cruise returns on the thirteenth and our first choice would be to return that day.

 

I guess what I am wondering is, does anyone know if there is a day of the week when fares are better...or time of day? I seem to remember in years past that airlines put out their sale fares on Tues evening or something like that. Or maybe that is an urban myth? Marilyn

 

 

Tuesdays and Thursdays are general better fares Friday Saturday Sunday are highest fare.

Miami is OK Atlanta or MCO is better.

Factor in to your price hotel, car meals for a delayed day or earlier it can be easily 800-1000f for a 3 day window as opposed to direct in and direct out with no waiting.

Now, sit sown contemplate areyou going to do several more cruises?Will theybe Europe, Africa,Aisia Australia SouthPacific South America? Be idealistic

and think what you'd like to do. Now pick 1 airline or oneairline Grouplike UAL star Alliance, America's one world.... skip anything Delta. Pick the group that goes to where you hope to go ( southwest/ jet blue etc are worthless for international trave;) Don't fall for the capitol 1 type cards...all airlines all hotels... they don't pa

Then get a credit card from that airline, join their flyers club If married, each spouse gets a separate CC card and FF# No wachofyou will have some 30-40,000 miles.

Quit jumping from airline to airline... stick to 1 group.. in the long run youwill beat any price difference. Now switch from cash check and pay EVERYTHING you can with the card... and pay it off endof the month using the same $$$ you would have used for checkor cash. Within a year youshould have almost 100,000 , never expeire miles fromyou airline group. ( I use UAL) now forthefuture you wil never have to pay for air fare again except tax,,, and your worries about fares will forever become moot.

Anyone can do it...but fare hoppers...airline hoppers in the end loose thousands of dollars in the end

 

Good luck

[mjmagee]

Curious why you discount Delta. Living in Fla it comes up all the time. Marilyn

[buggins0402]

Curious why you discount Delta. Living in Fla it comes up all the time. Marilyn

 

Actually, since you are going into AMS only a day before the cruise it's a great choice.... if you can get a good fare (big if). AMS is a European hub for Delta, so if things go sideways with a scheduled flight there are plenty of alternate solutions to get you to the ship on time.

 

We do collect all three major program miles. Probably dumb....but, the way I look at it, we always have one "ripening" with the needed miles. Sometimes, we have to adjust where we will vacation because one airline group is better at getting us there than another.

 

When you live in a Delta hub like we do, you have to collect Delta points because 1/2 the time they are the most convenient. Also, for flying overseas I prefer to connect in the foreign airport and we don't have many non skyteam member airlines flying out of DTW directly overseas.

 

We don't fly enough, even if our actual flown miles were with one airline, to get a status bump.

[Loreto]

Curious why you discount Delta. Living in Fla it comes up all the time. Marilyn

Like you I too am curious as to why hawaiidan eliminates Delta! I have stuck with Delta and their AMEX platinum card for many years and we (DH and I) have done very well by Delta with business class FF flights to Europe and South America. Even though I am a lowly Silver Medallion, Delta does seem to listen when things do not go as planned.

 

The day Delta opened their calendar for April 2016, I got 2 round trip business class FF tickets from LAX to AMS for just the tax...$195. It certainly made the cruise affordable!

[slidergirl]

Curious why you discount Delta. Living in Fla it comes up all the time. Marilyn

 

I'll wager that that poster USED to be a DL flyer, got upset at the Skymiles program and took his money to UAL. ;) Go to any site where flyers talk (hint) and you'll see plenty examples of people doing the FF program shuffle.

[ShawninFL]

We would have to use a limo service costing over $200 each way to reach the airport so that eats a bunch of the savings.

 

Our limitations are Philadelphia Airport... period.

 

Thank you for your input....

 

I mean no disrespect, but you're being completely unrealistic in finding a "deal". Deals don't just drop from the sky with exactly every exact parameter you're looking for but maybe once in a lifetime. I know in my life, I come across the deal and then decide to do that, not decide what I'm going to do and then find the "deal".

 

I live two hours from Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. I always check airfares out of those cities beside my hometown of Fort Myers. Someimes times we're able to find a significantly better price leaving out another city and rent a car one way back and forth, especially on international flights.

 

Two years ago for a transatlantic cruise, I found a $375.00 one way flight from Boston to Amsterdam on Iceland Air. I then booked a separate flight directly from Fort Myers to Boston for about $100.00, one way. This was $200.00 cheaper per person than any flight I could find out of Florida. The only real inconvenience was when we arrived in Boston we had to collect our luggage and check in again for the new flights on Iceland Air.

 

If you really want to do something, most of the time there are ways to make it happen if you really want to do it.

[iancal]

We often do the opposite.

 

We search for a good fare from our city to Europe. Then we do an inexpensive flight to our embarkation port. We have had several two-three day breaks in cities that we might otherwise not see. We flew home from Paris on Monday. We had been in Crete. Turned out that we were able to get great one way air fare from Paris nonstop to our home. The Crete to Paris fare was less expensive that some of the ferries that we have taken. So we ended up with a free weekend in Paris.

 

Our feeling is that if we have to pay more than we want for airfare, we may as well get some benefit from it. And we usually do.

[slidergirl]

When I'm flying to/from the US and Europe, I will first search for fares to and from the specific airport nearest my points. Then, I'll search for between my home and just about anywhere in Europe. If I find fares substantially lower, I'll see what transportation (air, train) will cost to get me to my desired location in Europe. Many times, it is still cheaper to do it this way. Sometimes, it isn't worth the couple of dollars of savings. I have also been the recipient of nice stopovers in cool cities.

But, then I am open to departing from any airport, any number of connections, any day ;) It's part of the fun of my travels!

[Anthomaniac]

And to say it again, perhaps more bluntly, so what??

 

 

Perhaps you were unaware, but this is a FORUM, where people come to DISCUSS issues that are of interest to them. I commented on a discussion that had been started about airfare being more expensive than cruising. If this discussion doesn't interest you or upsets you in some way, perhaps find another discussion that is more suited to you, instead of belittling people for discussing what is interesting to them.

 

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[6rugrats]

Perhaps you were unaware, but this is a FORUM, where people come to DISCUSS issues that are of interest to them. I commented on a discussion that had been started about airfare being more expensive than cruising. If this discussion doesn't interest you or upsets you in some way, perhaps find another discussion that is more suited to you, instead of belittling people for discussing what is interesting to them.

 

You are putting an awful lot of words in this other poster's mouth. This forum gets lots of threads, usually moved here from some other forum, where people seem shocked and upset that airfare is more expensive than their cruise. It's more in context if you would have included this poster's next line:

 

There is ZERO correlation between air travel and cruise travel

 

I believe that was the main point of his post. Highly doubt this was said to "belittle" you. Merely to point out for others reading that the cost of a cruise and the cost of airfare to get to that cruise aren't related.

Edited October 14, 2015 by 6rugrats

[Anthomaniac]

You are putting an awful lot of words in this other poster's mouth. This forum gets lots of threads, usually moved here from some other forum, where people seem shocked and upset that airfare is more expensive than their cruise. It's more in context if you would have included this poster's next line:

 

 

 

I believe that was the main point of his post. Highly doubt this was said to "belittle" you. Merely to point out for others reading that the cost of a cruise and the cost of airfare to get to that cruise aren't related.

 

Saying comparison of flight vs cruise cost is equivalent to comparison of shoes vs car cost isn't belittleling? We'll have to disagree on that.

 

 

 

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[FlyerTalker]

Saying comparison of flight vs cruise cost is equivalent to comparison of shoes vs car cost isn't belittleling? We'll have to disagree on that.

Had I wanted to belittle, trust me, there would be NO doubt that was the intent.

 

The point was that air cost and cruise cost have zero correlation. There's been nothing to disprove that.

[Anthomaniac]

I never said or implied that there was a correlation. I am fully aware of how supply and demand, economies of scale, and other economic vagaries work.

 

If your intent wasn't to belittle, perhaps a less derisive comparison would have shown that.

 

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[iancal]

OP might want to look at cruise air flights. One ways and/or one ways to/from alternate airports. Cruise air does not have to be a return journey. It can be open jaw, one way, two one ways, etc.

[fbgd]

BA announced a 2 day business class fare sale with a huge range of dates. If you sign up for AARP (anyone can do it, any age for $16) then you can save $400 per person on flights. So $1600 or so for international business class. It's practically theft at that price. Even more so when you can combine the 10% off they have BA Chase Visa Signature cardholders if you travel during 2015.

 

http://www.britishairways.com/en-us/offers/business-class-flights?source=H01X&hpsource=H01AXBusinessclassto

[Twickenham]

BA announced a 2 day business class fare sale with a huge range of dates. If you sign up for AARP (anyone can do it, any age for $16) then you can save $400 per person on flights. So $1600 or so for international business class. It's practically theft at that price. Even more so when you can combine the 10% off they have BA Chase Visa Signature cardholders if you travel during 2015.

 

http://www.britishairways.com/en-us/offers/business-class-flights?source=H01X&hpsource=H01AXBusinessclassto

 

This is an AMAZING sale. Just for fun, I priced out the OP's itinerary - RT PHL-LHR-AMS would cost them $1808.90. For business class. I really hope the OP sees this, as they should pounce on this price.

[Alaskanb]

BA announced a 2 day business class fare sale with a huge range of dates. If you sign up for AARP (anyone can do it, any age for $16) then you can save $400 per person on flights. So $1600 or so for international business class. It's practically theft at that price. Even more so when you can combine the 10% off they have BA Chase Visa Signature cardholders if you travel during 2015.

 

http://www.britishairways.com/en-us/offers/business-class-flights?source=H01X&hpsource=H01AXBusinessclassto

How do you get the AARP discount? Do you book on the AARP travel website?

Edited October 15, 2015 by Alaskanb

[pbnjrockette]

This is an AMAZING sale. Just for fun, I priced out the OP's itinerary - RT PHL-LHR-AMS would cost them $1808.90. For business class. I really hope the OP sees this, as they should pounce on this price.

 

 

POUNCED!! LOL Saw it online this morning and called my TA!! Booked!!

[fbgd]

How do you get the AARP discount? Do you book on the AARP travel website?

 

Essentially. You have a log-in that you use and there's a portal of sorts that takes you to an AARP version of BA's site.

[bubbulz]

I've been looking ahead at fares for Business Class open jaw MIA-VIE-MUN-MIA tickets for late next year. Most fares are pretty steep especially on the airlines with the better products (newer lie flat seats, etc. such as Swiss and Austrian). Is there any "best" way to stay up to date on sales that airlines are doing? Its seems like many (most?) of them have very short windows for booking. I just want to be ready to pounce when the time comes. ;)

 

(Great info re: the BA sale! If only that worked for my dates.)